TW

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sletter

PUBLISHED WITH THE SUPPORT

OF THE KUWAIT FOUNDATION

FOR THE ADVANCEMENT

OF SCIENCES

Vol. 10 - No. 2 Apr - Jun 1998

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TWAS NEWSLETTER

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY WITH

THE SUPPORT OF THE KUWAIT

FOUNDATION FOR THE

ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCES (KFAS)

BY THE THIRD WORLD

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (TWAS)

C/O THE ABDUS SALAM

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS

PO BOX 586

34100 TRIESTE, ITALY

PH: +39 (040) 2240327

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EDITOR

DANIEL SCHAFFER

ASSISTANT EDITOR/SET UP

GISELA ISTEN

TWAS SUPPORT STAFF

HELEN GRANT, HELEN MARTIN,

LEENA MUNGAPEN, SANDRA RAVALICO

DESIGN & ART DIRECTION

SANDRA ZORZETTI, RADO JAGODIC

(LINK, TRIESTE)

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GRAPHART SNC

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED,

THE TEXT OF THIS NEWSLETTER

IS WRITTEN BY ITS EDITOR AND MAY

BE REPRODUCED FREELY WITH DUE

CREDIT TO THE SOURCE

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TEOn 10 November 1983, the founding members of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)

met for the first time in Trieste, Italy. As a result of that historic meeting, the organization’s

founders, 42 distinguished scientists from the developing world (including all of the South’s Nobel

Laureates at the time), cited four issues where they believed the new Academy could make a differ-

ence: encouraging the pursuit of scientific excellence in the developing world, addressing the needs

of young scientists, facilitating South-South and South-North scientific cooperation, and establish-

ing strong links with national and regional academies.

On 9 December 1998, the Academy will hold its tenth General Meeting, also in Trieste. Since our

initial gathering, the issues first outlined by our

founders have continued to guide our activities.

On the eve of our next General Meeting, I thought

it would be helpful to highlight our past accomplishments and offer a glimpse of the future.

TWAS’s second General Meeting, held in Trieste in July 1985, was a historic event. Not only did

the occasion mark the first TWAS General Conference, but equally important UN Secretary General

Javier Pérez de Cuellar was the guest of honour at the Academy’s official inauguration. Thanks to a

generous grant of US$1.5 million from the Italian government, TWAS members discussed and insti-

tuted a set of programmes for awards, grants and fellowships designed to address the four issues

agreed upon at the first meeting. In effect, the 1983 meeting outlined the lofty goals of the

Academy, and the 1985 meeting provided the means for reaching them.

Since then, the Academy has met at least once every two years to review and approve activities,

initiate and discuss new strategies, and elect a new council. In addition to Trieste, meetings have

taken place in China, Venezuela, Kuwait, Nigeria and Brazil.

The third General Meeting, held in Beijing, China in 1987, was our first meeting to take place in

a developing country. Three important initiatives were discussed and approved: to organize a gen-

Then and Now

CONTENTS 2THEN AND NOW 4CITIES AND SHAKES 6S&T IN THE ISLAMIC

WORLD 8SOUTHERN CYBERSPACE 11MAKING EVERY VISIT COUNT 15ROAD TO

INNOVATION 18PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS

[continued next page]

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eral conference every two years in a developing country, build a network linking national science

academies and research councils in the South, and establish a programme to promote women sci-

entists in the third world. The last two proposals led to the creation of the Third World Network of

Scientific Organizations (TWNSO) in 1988 and Third World Organization of Women in Science

(TWOWS) in 1989.

The sixth General Meeting, held in Trieste in 1993, coincided with the tenth anniversary of the

Academy’s birth. The occasion provided an opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments and devise

a strategy for our continued success. Members discussed and approved the Academy’s first strategic

plan and officially launched a campaign to create a US$10 million endowment fund to cover the

Academy’s operational costs.

The eighth General Meeting, held in Trieste in 1996, was a sad event. Just days before

Academy members gathered, Abdus Salam, the guiding force behind the creation of TWAS and pres-

ident from our founding until 1994, passed away. Participants immediately agreed to hold the

meeting in Salam’s honour and to pay special tribute to his visionary and energetic leadership.

As TWAS members meet for their tenth General Meeting in Trieste this December, three impor-

tant tasks will be high on the agenda: electing a new council for the next two years, discussing and

approving strategies to implement the recommendations of the second strategic plan (approved at

the Academy’s ninth General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro last year) and re-invigorating the Academy’s

fund-raising efforts, especially for the endowment fund. We also hope our membership will be greet-

ed by good news: an announcement that the Italian government and the United Nations Educational

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Academy’s administrative body, have concluded

an agreement providing a permanent legal basis for the Italian government’s financial contribution

to TWAS. Such an announcement will ensure that the Academy continues to advance the agenda that

its founding members first articulated 15 years ago.

No one at that first meeting could have anticipated the Academy’s future impact on science in

the developing world. And no one can now predict TWAS’s impact in the future. However, with the

strength of our membership and the security provided by a stable financial base, we can be confi-

dent that the Academy will continue to make a difference for thousands of scientists in the devel-

oping world.

> Mohamed H.A. Hassan

TWAS Executive Director

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8

CO

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S hocking headlines over the past several decades tell the story. In 1985, a major earth-

quake in Mexico City kills 9,500 people; in 1988, a thunderous quake in Spitak,

Armenia, causes 25,000 deaths; and in 1990, powerful tremors in Luzon, Philippines leave

2,000 dead. The fact is that earthquakes often create life-and-death situations for hun-

dreds of millions of people living in some of the world’s most densely populated urban cen-

tres. Worldwide, more than 20,000 people on average are killed by earthquakes each year.

This December, the TWAS tenth General Meeting will hold an international symposium

that examines the seismic risks faced by megacities. In the following essay, Giuliano

Panza, professor of seismology at the University of Trieste in Italy, who is organizing the

symposium, talks about the risks posed by earthquakes, especially in megacities in devel-

oping countries. The symposium will include talks by more than 15 earthquake experts—

seismologists, engineers, planners and emergency managers. TWAS plans to publish these

presentations in an edited collection.

Earthquakes are old as the earth itself. Yet, despite unprecedented advances in sci-

ence and technology, we have become increasingly vulnerable to the earth’s tremors.

From Los Angeles, California, to Papua New Guinea, earthquakes have taken a terrible

toll over the past decade.

What accounts for our vulnerability? The irregularity and long intervals between

earthquakes dull public awareness and undermine governments’ willingness to invest in

earthquake mitigation mea-

sures. Similarly, effective

strategies require more than

a commitment to science and

technology. Indeed they necessitate difficult administrative and management measures,

which often test the political will of public institutions, especially those in the devel-

oping world where people are most at risk.

Yet, the most important factor behind our increasing vulnerability to earthquakes

lies in the rapid rise in population, particularly in the developing world’s megacities,

where flimsy building construction and woefully inadequate public utilities place resi-

dents at great risk. Today, more than one-third of the world’s population—some 2 bil-

lion people—live in earthquake-prone areas, largely sprawling urban conglomerations

such as Mexico City (16 million people), Beijing (12 million people) and Karachi (10

million people)—all of which have experienced devastating earthquakes in the past few

decades.

During this century, fourth-fifths of all deaths caused by earthquakes have taken

place in developing countries. Based on recent statistics, we can expect about 9,000

people worldwide to die from earthquakes next year. Approximately 8,000 will reside in

developing countries.

In 1950, only half of the world’s urban earthquake-threatened population lived in

developing countries. By 2000, the proportion will climb to 85 percent. By 2025, about

CITIES AND SHAKES

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5 billion people—roughly two-thirds of the world’s population—will live in cities. Such

unprecedented growth will strain urban infrastructures—buildings, roads, bridges,

water facilities, sewage systems and electric-power networks. Cities, particularly megac-

ities in the South, are becoming more densely populated and more fragile. No other nat-

ural disaster exposes this vulnerability in more dramatic and tragic fashion than an

earthquake.

As with many other natural disasters, earthquakes have both immediate and long-

term effects. You don’t need to be a seismologist to realize that when thousands of peo-

ple die and property damage runs into billions of dollars, communities do not quickly

recover. Experts estimate, for example, that potential disruptions caused by a major

earthquake near Ecuador’s capital city of Guayaquil could cut the nation’s annual gross

domestic product (GDP) by half. Indeed the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, pared 1

percent from Japan’s GDP—the world’s second largest economy—despite the govern-

ment’s rapid response.

How can scientists help counteract these adverse impacts? An earthquake’s tragic

effects can only be lessened through comprehensive assessments of seismic hazards

whose ultimate goal should be to raise public awareness about potential risks. Such

awareness might lead to policy measures that improve building designs and construc-

tion making them more resistant to seismic jolts. At the same time, such assessments

might help both citizens and public officials more fully appreciate the grave risks asso-

ciated with current population and land-use trends, especially those taking place among

the developing world’s megacities. During this century, average earthquake-related mor-

tality rates in developed nations have fallen by a factor of 10. The factor in developing

countries has remained constant.

In 1996, the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs launched the Risk

Tools for Diagnosis of Urban Areas Against Seismic Disasters project. Based on informa-

tion gathered from recent earthquakes, its aim has been to develop practical tools for

assessing seismic risks in large cities. In 1997, the United Nations Educational Scientific

and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) funded the Realistic Modelling of Seismic Input for

Megacities and Large Urban Areas project. Its goal is to evaluate seismic hazards in some

20 urban areas, mostly in developing countries. As part of a larger UNESCO multidisci-

plinary programme, the Earthquake and Megacities Initiative, it marks a critical first step

in devising effective earthquake mitigation policies for megacities worldwide.

Such strategies require earth scientists, seismic engineers, sociologists, planners

and emergency-response experts to share information. That’s what the TWAS symposium

will seek to accomplish through broad-ranging discussions of the scientific, technolog-

ical, administrative and management measures that must be considered if we hope to

curb the tragic impacts of one of nature’s most devastating displays of power.

Megacities and earthquakes are a dangerous brew. Now that we have mixed one with

the other, perhaps scientists can help us reduce the risks associated with putting so

many people atop of some of the world’s “shakiest” areas.

> Giuliano Panza

University of Trieste

Trieste, Italy

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S&T IN THEISLAMIC WORLD

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The Ministerial Standing Committee for Scientific Cooperation (COMSTECH) has become one of the leading voices for science and technology in the Muslim world.

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ABDUS SALAM, THE NOBEL LAUREATE WHO SPEARHEADED THE

DR IVE FOR THE CREAT ION OF THIRD WORLD ACADEMY OF

SC I ENCES (TWAS) AND SERVED AS THE ACADEMY ’ S PRES IDENT

DURING THE F IRS T DECADE OF I T S EX I S T ENCE, WAS QUICK TO

NOTE THAT THE ISLAMIC WORLD ENJOYED A R ICH SC I ENT I F I C

LEGACY.

In fact, he often cited the Quran to illustrate the deep-seated

respect for science that was part of Islamic tradition. “Some 750

verses of the Holy Quran (almost one eighth of the book),” he

noted, “exhort believers to study Nature, to reflect, to make the

best use of reason in their search for the ultimate and to make the

acquiring of knowledge and sciences obligatory upon every

Muslim....”

At the same time, Salam often acknowledged that the central

role that science had played among Islamic countries came to an

abrupt halt in the 11th century and has never been the same. Late

in his life, Salam lamented that among “the major civilizations on

this planet, science is the weakest in the Islamic Commonwealth.”

In January 1981, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)

established a Ministerial Standing Committee for Scientific

Cooperation (COMSTECH) at its third annual meeting held in

Makkah-tul-Mukarrama, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Committee

was created to promote the scientific and technological capabilities

of Muslim countries through closer “cooperation and mutual assis-

tance.” OIC’s 55 member states, ranging from Afghanistan to

Lebanon to Uganda, are home to more than one billion people—a

fifth of the world’s population.

Through the years, COMSTECH has concentrated on several

broad objectives:

• To pursue collaborative research on issues of common concern

within the OIC region—for example, desertification and agricultur-

al productivity.

• To create effective institutional networks for planning, research-

ing and developing basic science and high technology, including

state-of-the-art information technologies.

• To establish benchmarks for assessing the scientific and techno-

logical capabilities and progress of OIC member states.

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8ties of mutual concern in the years ahead. These activities will

include a:

• Research and training fellowships programme offering train-

ing to some 100 scientists each year who are given opportunities

to work in centres of excellence across the Muslim world.

Institutions currently participating in this programme include the

Centre for Agriculture Economic Studies in Cairo; Ferdousi

University of Mashad in Mashad, Iran; and the Pasteur Institute of

Morocco in Casablanca, Morocco.

• Spare parts programme supplying funds—usually less than

US$500—for the replacement of worn-out or malfunctioning equip-

ment parts. The programme is designed to allow scientists to con-

centrate on what they do best—research—and not be diverted by

equipment problems that sap their energy and attention.

• Visiting scientists programme encouraging the exchange of

scientists among OIC members states, especially those who share

common research interests. The programme focuses on both mature

scientists with a proven track record of accomplishments and

young, promising scientists seeking postdoc-

torate experience.

The Committee’s strategy is based on the

belief that advances in science and technolo-

gy hold the key to overcoming the difficult

challenges the Muslim world faces today—

problems arising from “economic exploitation,

cultural subversion and the slow rate of

growth.”

“Islamic solidarity...in scientific research and technological

development” is essential for “the common good and progress” of

the Muslim world, note COMSTECH officials. Cooperative initiatives

such as those launched by the Committee provide the most impor-

tant vehicles for enabling the Muslim world to “recover from its

slumber and regain its lost glory in science and technology, which

was its privilege for many centuries.” ■

For additional information about COMSTECH, please contact:

> COMSTECH Secretariat, 3-Constitution Avenue, G- 5/2,

Islamabad - 44000, Pakistan, phone (+92 51) 9220681 - 3;

fax (+92 51) 9211115; e-mail comstec@paknet1.ptc.pk.

The ultimate goal of COMSTECH has remained simple to articu-

late yet difficult to achieve: to build the “indigenous capability of

member states in the fields of science and technology through

cooperation and mutual assistance.”

Since its inception, COMSTECH has concentrated on a wide

range of topical areas, which the Committee believes are either

central to the future well-being of OIC member states or at the cut-

ting edge of scientific inquiry worldwide. These areas include

biotechnology, agricultural productivity and microelectronics. For

example, it has organized seminars and work-

shops in biological conservation in Brunei

Darussalam, laser applications in Kuwait, agro-

climatology in Pakistan, and waste manage-

ment in Jordan.

“Despite its limited resources, COMSTECH

has done much to advance the cause of sci-

ence and technology throughout the Muslim

world,” says TWAS fellow Atta-ur-Rahman,

COMSTECH’s Coordinator General. “However, its impact could be

that much greater if it could secure additional funding.”

For this reason, COMSTECH’s executive committee has launched

a “collaborative and cooperative projects” programme designed to

encourage the Committee and OIC member states to seek funding

from international donors for future projects.

Over the long term, COMSTECH will try to secure external funds

for the creation of new inter-Islamic research networks as well as

an Islamic university on science and technology. For now, the

Islamic Development Bank has agreed to support a COMSTECH train-

ing initiative with a grant totalling more than US$2 million. Other

funding agencies include the International Foundation for Science

(IFS), which has joined COMSTECH in sponsoring a project to aid

young Muslim researchers, and the government of Pakistan, which

recently provided COMSTECH with US$1 million for the promotion of

scientific and technological cooperation in the Muslim world.

COMSTECH has also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with

TWAS that will enable both organizations to jointly pursue activi-

“COMSTECH has donemuch to advance thecause of science and

technology throughoutthe Muslim world.”

SOUTHERNCYBERSPACE

8

The information revolution promises to accelerate advances in science. But some observers fear it will leave researchers in the developing world even farther behind.

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HISTORY SHOWS THAT ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY OFTEN ENHANCE

E X I S T I N G I N E Q UA L I T I E S . A R E C E N T S T U DY BY T H E U .S .

NAT IONAL TELECOMMUNICAT IONS AND INFORMAT ION ADMINI-

S TRAT ION, FOR EXAMPLE , REVEALED THAT WHILE ACCESS TO COM-

P U T E R S , M O D E M S A N D O N L I N E C O N N E C T I V I T Y I N C R E A S E D

throughout the United States between 1994 and 1997, the gap

between the rich (mainly white and non-Hispanic immigrants) and

the disadvantaged (mainly black, Hispanic and inner city popula-

tions) had widened considerably.

Let us consider scientific research in India. Researchers must

find out what is happening around the world as well as keep oth-

ers informed about what they are doing. Information is the key to

knowledge and dissemination of information crucial for the scien-

tific enterprise.

In pre-independent India, when such world-class scientists as

C.V. Raman, Meghnad Saha and J.C. Bose made their critical con-

tributions to knowledge, professional journals served as the main

vehicle for scholarly communication. Scientists worldwide had vir-

tually the same level of access to information, although those

working in developing countries received their journals a few

months later than their European colleagues.

Despite the tremendous proliferation of journals today, many of

them remain beyond the reach of libraries and research institutes in

the South, especially journals published by commercial firms. The

best academic science library in India, at the Indian Institute of

Science, receives some 1,560 serials, including those that arrive free

of charge or through an exchange. In the United States and Europe,

many university libraries subscribe to some 50,000 journal titles.

To make matters worse, due to the rising value of the U.S. dol-

lar on international currency markets and dramatic increases in sub-

scription prices, libraries in India and other developing nations have

been forced to reduce the number of journals and data bases they

receive. The situation in Africa is particularly bad. “When you call

some of us scientists,” an African professor recently told a journal-

ist, “we laugh at ourselves. We know we can no longer make contri-

butions to science. I do not know what my colleagues in Kenya or

London have found, for example. So I cannot carry out an experi-

ment and believe I am on the path to an original contribution....If

I have been giving generations of students the same notes for the

last 10 years, I should not call myself a scientist.”

Now, many primary journals and data base collections have gone

electronic. Title-listing services such as Current Contents Connect,

abstracting services such as SciFinder and multidisciplinary citation

indexes such as Web of Science are available on the web—at a fee

that most university and research laboratory libraries in developing

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8unable to surf the net or do online searches. Dated technology

restricts them to sending and receiving e-mail messages.

Those connected to new information technologies undoubtedly

are much better off than before. But a vast majority of scientists in

developing countries do not have access.

Take, for instance, the e-Print archive. This information service

is available to physicists at only a few institutes in India—for

example, the Indian Institute of Science, Institute of Mathematical

Sciences and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. More dis-

turbingly, Indian physicists in such leading universities as the

University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University and University of

Madras are not connected to the internet or e-mail at all. In con-

trast, every physicist in the United States and the United Kingdom

enjoys easy access to e-mail and the internet.

The disadvantages that this disparity poses for scientists in

developing countries are obvious. A growing number of journals,

especially in the fields of science and technology, now receive and

review manuscripts via e-mail and some journals are available only

in electronic form. Editors of such journals likely will be reluctant

to use referees from developing countries, even if they are excep-

tionally competent in their fields because it would be difficult to

reach them electronically. Besides, many scientists in developing

countries will be unable to publish their work in electronic journals.

The United Nations has voiced its concerns about the imbalance

in access to electronic communication facilities. The UN’s

Administrative Committee on Coordination, issued a statement on

Universal Access to Basic Communication and Information Services

in April 1997 in which it stated: “We are profoundly concerned at

the deepening maldistribution of access, resources and opportuni-

ties in the information and communication field. The information

technology gap and related inequities between industrialized and

developing nations are widening: a new type of poverty—informa-

tion poverty—looms. Most developing countries, especially the

least developed countries (LDCs) are not sharing in the communi-

cation revolution, since they lack:

• Affordable access to core information resources, cutting-edge

technology and sophisticated telecommunication systems and

infrastructure.

• The capacity to build, operate, manage, and service the tech-

nologies involved.

• Policies that promote equitable public participation in the infor-

mation society as both producers and consumers of information and

knowledge.

• A workforce trained to develop, maintain and provide the value-

added products and services required by the information economy.”

countries cannot afford. Many frontline journals have become

increasingly accessible via password controls on the web through,

for example, Elsevier’s Science Direct.

Physicists have gone a step further. They circulate preprints

electronically, via Los Alamos National Laboratory’s e-Print archive,

long before a hardcopy is printed in refereed journals. This service

is offered free of charge to physicists worldwide. In theory, anyone

anywhere in the world can use this service. In reality, though, one

must have access to the appropriate technology, which most scien-

tists in developing countries do not have. As a result, the perfor-

mance of researchers can be adversely affected not because of their

work but because they are not connected to electronic information

networks.

Accessing information through CD-ROMs offers capabilities not

possible through print, and accessing through the web offers capa-

bilities not possible through CD-ROMs. As a recent editorial in

Science noted, “Digital publishing has much to recommend it over

print publishing....Uncomfortable trade-offs are involved...but the

gains include ease of access, rapid delivery over great distances,

and hypertext links from indexing services and bibliographic cita-

tions to the full text of cited documents.”

Hardly any laboratory in the developing world has web access

to these databases. How can scientists working in these laborato-

ries be equal partners in the worldwide enterprise of knowledge

production? The truth is that the transition from hard copies to

electronic publishing likely will widen the gap between developed

countries and developing countries and further marginalize already

marginalized scientists and scholars in the South.

Most developing countries do not have the necessary infra-

structure (computer terminals, networks, communication channels

and bandwidths) to become equal partners in worldwide knowledge

production and dissemination. According to Bruce Girard, former

director of Latin America’s community radio Pulsar, 95 percent of

all computers are located in developed nations, and 10 developed

nations, accounting for 20 percent of the world’s population, have

75 percent of the world’s telephone lines. Teledensity in India

today is slightly less than 2 lines per 100 persons. This marks a vast

improvement. Less than five years ago, teledensity in India was 1

line per 100 persons. In contrast, however, teledensity in the

United States and Canada is more than 60 per 100 inhabitants. To

make matters worse, most of India’s telephones are concentrated in

the largest metropolitan areas.

Many Indian universities, moreover, do not have e-mail or inter-

net facilities. And those that do have such low bandwidths and

poor terrestrial telephone connections that researchers remain

[continued next page]

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10

Cambridge University thanks to the foresight of G.H. Hardy. While

such individual efforts may still help overcome obstacles on occa-

sion, we need a more organized and systematic programme of

action to combat the current crisis. Educational institutions and

research laboratories must be granted satellite-based high-band-

width access to the internet at low cost. At the same time, differ-

ential price strategies must be devised to allow institutions

throughout the developing world to obtain the most recent journal

titles and most up-to-date data bases.

On both fronts, I am not optimistic. For example, a proposal by

V.S. Arunachalam of Carnegie-Mellon University in the United

States to network 100 or so of India’s academic and research cities

has yet to see the light of day. A report submitted to the then

Prime Minister, I. K. Gujral, by the Scientific Advisory Committee to

the Indian Cabinet about a year ago has not been acted upon.

Fortunately, the recommendations of the taskforce set up by Prime

Minister A.B. Vajpayee, of which M.G.K. Menon, a Fellow of TWAS,

is a key member and vice chairman, have been accepted by the gov-

ernment and will soon be implemented.

The dithering and slow pace of progress are all too characteris-

tic of the Third World. It often takes far too much time to translate

something from the realm of the possible to reality. Part of the

blame, I think, rests with the academic community itself. No one

ever complains. When things are not working out well, one must

learn to complain, protest and demand appropriate action.

As for differential pricing, both publishers

of primary journals and database producers are

reluctant to embrace such measures. In a rare

exception, the Institute for Scientific Infor-

mation, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA),

offers most developing country subscribers its

Science Citation Index at 50-percent discount.

Even then it is perceived as too costly.

Given all these circumstances, I would not be surprised if the

gap between the scientifically advanced nations and the others

widens even further, limiting the role of developing countries in the

production, dissemination and utilization of knowledge even more

than it is today. ■

> Subbiah Arunachalam

Subbiah Arunachalam [Arun] is a distinguished fellow in

information science at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

in Chennai, India. This article is based on a talk he gave at the

Ninth International Conference of the International Federation of

Science Editors in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 7-11 June 1998.

The communication revolution is perceived as a liberating

force. Yet, what is most likely to happen is that scientists and

scholars in many developing countries will be among the last to

join the revolution. In India, for example, the

stock market community has a network of its

own with dedicated telephone lines, but a vast

majority of scientists do not even have tele-

phones on their desks. The low level of infor-

mation and communication technologies in

developing countries may exclude a majority of

scientists and scholars in these countries from

the collective international discourse that is so essential for active

participation in all fields of research.

Even today, when much publishing takes place in print, partic-

ipation by developing country scientists in such high impact jour-

nals as Science, Nature and Cell, remains abysmally low. The gap in

science and technology that now exists between developed and

developing countries will widen. That, in turn, could exacerbate the

“brain drain” problem and intensify the reliance that developing

nations have for knowledge developed beyond their borders.

In an earlier era, Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan,

a genius who had not gone through a conventional training pro-

gramme, was nurtured in the intellectually stimulating ambience of

“I would not be surprisedif the gap between thescientifically advancednations and the otherswidens even further.”

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T he Visiting Professorships in Science and Sustainable Development programme seeks to

address one of the major problems facing researchers in the developing world today:

limited interactions with their colleagues in other parts of the world. Jointly sponsored

by TWAS, International Council for Science (ICSU), United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Commonwealth Science Council and Earth Council, the pro-

gramme enables international scientific experts to visit universities and research centres on a

continual basis over several years.

What’s the programme's ultimate objective? According to its sponsors, the goal is “to pro-

vide developing country institutions and research groups, especially those lacking outside con-

tacts, with the opportunity to establish long-term links with world leaders in science, tech-

nology and key areas of environment and development.”

Here’s how it works. Each year, several international experts, who are conducting research

on issues of critical importance to the developing world, are given visiting professorship

appointments to Third World institutions. The appointments usually last five years. The visit-

ing professor is expected to go to the host institution a minimum of three times and stay at

least one month each time.

Programme sponsors cover the cost of airfare plus any additional travel expenses. They

also offer the professor a small honorarium. The host institution, on the other hand, agrees

to pay for expenses incurred during the professor’s stay.

Visiting professors work closely with their fellow researchers in the programme's host insti-

tutions. Through these exchanges, participants seek to strengthen existing research activities

or launch new lines of inquiry that address critical scientific, public health or technological

issues in the area or region.

“The success of the programme,” notes Mohamed H.A. Hassan, Executive Director of

TWAS, “depends on linking noted professors who have strong track records of success with

institutions eager to expand their research horizons. Combining expertise and enthusiasm is

one way to ensure the exchange is fruitful.”

Since its inception, the programme has provided funding for some 25 professors. Research

activities, ranging from lectures to workshops to laboratory experiments, have taken place in

Cuba, Mongolia, Egypt, Turkey and Zambia. In all, some 13 countries have hosted professors

participating in the programme.

For the past two years, Eva Harris, a molecular and cell biologist at the University of

California’s (Berkeley) School of Public Health, has worked with researchers at the Universidad

Mayor de San Andres’ Instituto de Servicios de Laboratorio de Diagnostico e Investigacion en

Salud (SELADIS), in La Paz, Bolivia, to develop more effective and sustainable strategies for

the diagnosis and epidemiology of such infectious diseases as tuberculosis, leishmaniasis,

Chagas disease and dengue fever. What follows is a brief discussion of her efforts.

MAKING EVERY VISIT COUNT

[continued next page]

Eva Harris is one of the scientific warriors on the frontlines of the campaign against infec-

tious diseases.

Now her efforts, which began more than a decade ago, have received a boost from the

TWAS visiting professorship programme. In 1996, she was awarded a small grant to estab-

lish a series of workshops in Bolivia. The workshops are intended to promote scientific

capacity building as a way of enhancing the ability of local entities to control infectious

diseases. This strategy involves providing training for local scientists and physicians in lab-

oratory techniques, diagnosis and epidemiology, and grant writing. Activities focus on a

particular procedure that goes by the scientific name polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

PCR enables specific fragments of DNA to be exponentially replicated so that they can

be easily detected. Put another way, PCR allows a particular pathogen to be identified by

virtue of detecting a fragment of its DNA rather than by detecting the organism itself. At

the same time, the process allows scientists and medical practitioners to obtain important

genetic information that can enhance their understanding of a disease’s epidemiology. Such

information may prove invaluable in efforts to prevent or contain the spread of an infec-

tious disease.

“PCR has many advantages over traditional methods of diagnosis,” explains Harris.

“First, it can be used for both the diagnosis and epidemiology of viral, bacterial, fungal and

parasitic diseases. As a result, the procedure enjoys a wide range of applications. Second,

in certain cases, PCR has proven to be a more effective means of disease detection than

traditional clinical-based diagnostic methods. Third, PCR can be made cost-effective

through a simple, low-cost methodology that can be easily used by local scientists and

medical practitioners who are properly trained.”

That’s where the TWAS visiting professorship programme comes into play. Harris will

visit Bolivia at least three times over the next five years to work closely with her South

American colleagues as part of a larger effort to promote the appropriate use of PCR .

“My experience with efforts at North/South cooperation have shown that two ingredi-

ents are essential for success,” Harris says. “Those from the North must have an opportu-

nity to remain active participants in the programme for extended periods. And those from

the South must feel that the programme is theirs and not simply an initiative devised and

managed by their colleagues in the North, however well-meaning they may be.”

Harris has not been one to come and run. Her efforts to increase the use of PCR in

Bolivia and throughout Latin America are now more than a decade old. The emphasis she

has placed on adapting procedures to existing conditions and training local personnel have

not only helped contain the spread of infectious diseases but have had the added benefit

of strengthening the skills of the indigenous scientific and medical community.

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8Success within the region has gained increasing recognition in the North as well. And

that has translated into additional resources. Harris, for example, has received grants from

the Pan American Health Organization, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular

Biology and the New England Biolabs Foundation. In addition, a number of private U.S.

biotech companies have generously donated equipment to hospitals and universities

throughout Latin America, including institutions in Bolivia. Meanwhile, in 1997 Harris was

awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in recognition of her unique contributions to

the world of public health.

Efforts to secure the TWAS visiting professor fellowship began within an informal con-

versation with her colleagues at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz, Bolivia, in

June 1996.

“Gaining support for public health programmes in Latin America is no easy task; there

are always other competing priorities,” explains Harris. “A number of people at the univer-

sity—most notably, Susan Revollo who has since become a close colleague of mine—

thought the programme might be a good way to receive funding for travel and lodging that

would help ensure our continuous interaction over several years. We drafted and refined the

proposal over a two-week period and TWAS notified us that our application had been

approved about two months after we submitted it.”

One reason for TWAS’s confidence in Harris’s application was her track record of success.

Since the late 1980s, she has developed and refined a strategy replicated many times in

universities and health ministries throughout Latin America.

The programme consists of a series of progressively more complex workshops. Before

the first workshop begins, local scientists and physicians identify three or four diseases in

their country that deserve particular attention because of the public health risks they pose.

The initial workshops provide a theoretical and practical introduction to molecular biology

techniques. More specifically, pathogens responsible for the selected diseases are detected

and genetically characterized through the use of PCR techniques.

“By conducting the experiments themselves,” Harris explains, “workshop participants

gain first-hand experience in molecular techniques used for the diagnosis and epidemiolo-

gy of infectious diseases.”

A number of participants in the first series of workshops are then assembled into four or

five teams that participate in the second series of workshops. These teams design a pilot study

for which they collect samples and apply molecular techniques. In addition, each group

designs a larger study and writes a grant proposal designed to seek additional funding.

“The objective,” Harris notes, “is to make the projects as sustainable as possible by pro-

viding training in all the areas necessary for successful scientific investigations. At the

[continued next page]

same time, all of our projects are designed to have both scientific value and direct impacts

on local public health.”

“In the case of the initiative at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, my colleagues

and I identified three major diseases: tuberculosis, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. Each

of these diseases produce untold misery. For example, the disfiguring ulcerated lesions

caused by leishmaniasis afflict some 400,000 people each year, mostly impoverished inhab-

itants of tropical and subtropical regions.”

“PCR,” Harris adds, “offers an important tool in combating this sometimes deadly infec-

tious disease. Treatment for leishmaniasis is expensive, lengthy and may carry toxic side

effects. Meanwhile, the symptoms often are associated with other diseases. That means it’s

important for medical practitioners to get the diagnosis right—for the sake of both the

community and the individuals that they are serving.”

“Because PCR offers a more rapid and reliable method of diagnosis than more traditional

techniques,” Harris notes, “it’s a strategy well worth pursuing. In the case of tuberculosis,

which if left untreated can cause death, PCR allows for rapid and sensitive diagnosis. In

addition, PCR can be used to track individual stains of tuberculosis. That information can

enhance our understanding of tuberculosis transmission patterns in the community and

uncover risk factors associated with the spread of the disease. Such information often

proves invaluable in designing effective prevention and control strategies.”

So what’s next in Harris’s campaign against infectious diseases in Latin America. From

the clinics to the workshops to the additional outside funding, the effort has already

achieved impressive results. But Harris anticipates that the progress that has been made to

date is only a beginning.

This fall, local and regional researchers will return to La Paz to present and analyse the

results of their pilot studies and write grant proposals in an effort to receive funding for

future projects. Some 30 researchers from nations throughout Latin America are expected

to attend.

“I think there’s no better way of being true to the mandate of the visiting professorship

programme,” Harris adds, “than by creating an environment that is likely to advance the

region’s public health goals long after my TWAS-sponsored visits come to an end.” ■

For additional information about the programme for Visiting Professorships in Science and

Sustainable Development, please contact:

> TWAS, c/o The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Enrico Fermi

Building, Via Beirut 6, 34100 Trieste, Italy, phone: +39 040 2240 387, fax: +39 040 224559,

e-mail: twas@ictp.trieste.it.

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As Director General of India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial

Research (CSIR), TWAS Fellow (1993) Raghunath Anat Mashelkar heads one

of the world’s largest scientific research organizations. CSIR currently

employs more than 25,000 staff members, including 3,000 research scien-

tists with doctorates in disciplines ranging from physics to chemistry to

biology to the environmental and social sciences.

Mashelkar, born in Goa, India, was educated at the University of

Bombay where he received his doctorate in chemical engineering in 1969.

After lecturing several years at the University of Salford in the United

Kingdom, he returned to India in the mid 1970s to help launch the National

Chemical Laboratory. Mashelkar’s first-hand knowledge of scientific

research (his personal fields of study include gel science, polymer engi-

neering and fluid mechanics), combined with his administrative skills,

helped to turn the National Chemical Laboratory into a worldclass facility.

In 1995, Mashelkar became CSIR’s Director General. Since then, he has

focused the Council’s attention on a host of critical concerns now facing sci-

ence in the developing world, including issues related to technology trans-

fer, global scientific partnerships, patent protection and the need to

strengthen public support for science.

In April, while visiting TWAS headquarters in Trieste, Italy, to chair a

two-day meeting devoted to the UNESCO-TWNSO “We Can Do It” project,

Mashelkar spoke to the Editor of the TWAS Newsletter on a wide range of

topics. What follows is an excerpt from their hour-long interview.

Please trace the steps that brought you to the

position of Director General of India’s Council of

Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

I was born and educated in India. After receiv-

ing my Ph.D. from the University of Bombay, I was

appointed a lecturer at the University of Salford in

England. I was a young man in my early twenties

and my career was on the rise. My family was happy

to be living in England and I didn’t foresee leaving

at that time. Then I experienced an unexpected

turning point in my life. Dr. Nayadumna, Director

General of CSIR, contacted me to ask if I would

meet him in London. At the time, Indira Ghandi,

India’s Prime Minister, was deeply concerned about

the nation’s “brain drain” prob-

lem. She asked Nayadumna to

identify India’s very best scien-

tists, many of whom had migrated

elsewhere, and offer them jobs on

the spot. He told me a great opportuni-

ty was opening up in India to establish an

engineering department in the National Chemical

Laboratory and he asked if I would accept the chal-

lenge. The dream of lending a hand to the creation

of a new technically advanced India was too tempt-

ing to pass up and I said yes immediately.

Would you please describe for our readers the

state of research facilities in India 20 years ago?

At the time I started working at the National

Chemical Laboratory, the research infrastructure was

poor, particularly in my field of chemical engineer-

ing. The equipment couldn’t compare to the equip-

ment I had access to in England. Consequently, my

research options were strictly limited. This problem

was compounded by the fact that, at the time, the

Indian rupee was not convertible into dollars. As a

result, it was extremely difficult to purchase equip-

ment from foreign vendors. Several years, in fact,

often elapsed between the time you received per-

mission to buy equipment and its delivery. In short,

India’s research institutions in the 1970s had neither

the currency to buy what they needed, nor the

know-how or infrastructure to build it themselves.

This problem, however, turned into an opportu-

nity after I decided to launch a programme, based

on my own research, that did not require state-of-

the-art equipment. The effort not only proved a

success in its own right but helped shape the over-

all strategy of the National Chemical Laboratory in

the years ahead. At the time, I was a consultant for

a private company that produced synthetic fibres

with equipment it had purchased from abroad. The

company’s poly condensation reactors, which made

the fibre, were excellent machines. But the compa-

ny did not have a clue about how the machines

ROAD TOINNOVATION BEGINS WITH SCIENCE

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[continued next page]

worked. For executives and line

operators alike, the reactors

were nothing more than black

boxes. I was asked to construct a

mathematical model that would

help the company better understand

the manufacturing process.

At the same time, my findings helped the

company improve the efficiency of what they were

doing. But I soon realized that I was working at the

border between scientific and industrial research,

and that I was doing the latter without compro-

mising the integrity of the former. Such an

approach is exactly the one that has come to shape

the work of the National Chemical Laboratory and,

more generally, CSIR. Industrial research at India’s

national laboratories, which has been built on a

strong scientific base, is driven by this simple fact:

If you fail to develop that base, you confine your-

self to reverse engineering, which at best only

allows you to copy what others have done. That, in

turn, puts you in a position that makes it extreme-

ly difficult to develop new products. All of this ren-

ders your scientific research less exciting and your

industrial output less profitable.

Between 1989 and 1995, you served as the head

of the National Chemical Laboratory. What goals

did you establish for the Laboratory and what

strategies did you devise to reach those goals?

The first thing I did was to try to construct a

strong intellectual framework for the Laboratory’s

work. When I became director, the Laboratory had

never been awarded a patent despite being over 40

years old. For me, only usable knowledge can cre-

ate wealth. But for that wealth to work for society

and the economy, it must be protected. Therefore,

we worked hard to ensure that the Laboratory’s

new products and services were patented. At the

same time, I brought a market orientation to the

Laboratory. Before my arrival, words like business

and management remained unpopular in India’s

national laboratories. I tried to change that atti-

tude. For example, I created a business develop-

ment department. At the beginning, many mem-

bers of the staff resisted the

effort, believing that it would

sap scarce resources and compro-

mise the integrity of their

research. But eventually they

came around. In my thinking, sci-

ence has to make economic sense if it’s

to receive funding over the long haul. At

about the same time, I was pursuing these initia-

tives at the National Chemical Laboratory, our

umbrella organization, CSIR, had established a

committee with a mandate to make the Council and

its affiliated laboratories more market savvy. CSIR’s

so-called Mashelkar report—upon which this strat-

egy was predicated—helped change the mindset of

our scientists by offering them incentives to

engage in applied science. The philosophy that

drove the report’s conclusions was this: Science

nurtures technology and technology creates

wealth. Scientists, in turn, should benefit directly

from the wealth that they have helped to create

through royalties and bonuses. The laboratories

would also benefit from such a strategy through

closer ties to industry. That, in turn, would likely

increase their revenues through licensing fees and

institutional royalties. Such revenues could make

an enormous difference in a laboratory’s annual

research budget. Yet, most importantly, an incen-

tive’s strategy would generate greater wealth for

the nation, which would reduce poverty levels and

add to the material well-being of all citizens.

What was the mindset of India’s scientists before

incentives for research were introduced?

Our scientists were busy copying. Part of the

mentality was driven by a deference for Western

technology. The thinking went like this: Scientists

in developed countries receive better education and

training, have better facilities and create better

products. We can’t possibly compete; we are simply

better off taking what they give us and doing the

best we can in recreating it. And part of the prob-

lem was due to tariff barriers, which protected

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Indian firms from the fiercest

aspects of international competi-

tion. Because firms didn’t have to

worry about being buried by state-

of-the-art products and services

from abroad, they could afford to sell

products based on older technologies. To

counteract these circumstances, we needed to cre-

ate an environment that would allow our scientists

to think ahead.

CSIR’s incentive initiative, launched in the late

1980s, tried to nurture a new mentality by encour-

aging Indian scientists to become more entrepre-

neurial in their outlook. And, the government’s

decision to lower tariff barriers, enacted in early

1991, forced the nation’s industries to face the full

force of global competition. In the process, it made

business executives realize that science could help

them successfully confront the new reality created

by their exposure to international markets.

Collectively, these two decisions brought the worlds

of science and business, which had been worlds

apart throughout India’s history, closer together.

What is the future of scientific institutions in

India?

A decade ago, I said that science was becoming

a global enterprise and that India must quickly pre-

pare itself for the inevitable consequences that

would accompany this trend. We have taken impor-

tant steps in meeting this challenge, but the forces

of globalization are now stronger than ever. That’s

why it’s important for our scientists to partner not

just with domestic companies but with companies

throughout the world to develop new products and

processes.

We have made some progress in this area despite

the fact that many companies in the North initially

expressed much scepticism towards our efforts. Why,

they said, should we work with scientists from

developing countries? Why do we need them? What

would we gain from such efforts? We overcame their

doubts by making ourselves rich in intellectual cap-

ital. Such capital is cheap, it’s desirable and it’s

something that both governments and industries

across the globe are willing to pay

for. When I took over the

National Chemical Laboratory, the

amount of money generated by

licensing fees was zero. Last year, it

was US$3 million—revenues derived,

for example, from agreements with

General Electric, DuPont and Eastman Kodak.

As I like to say in speeches I give both in my coun-

try and abroad, India must stand for innovation not

imitation.

What do you think is the future of India’s CSIR?

When I became CSIR’s Director General, I hoped

to introduce changes among all CSIR institutions

similar to those that I had spearheaded at the

National Chemical Laboratory. In fact, I hoped to

take our efforts a step further and place CSIR on a

path to financial self-sufficiency. Last year, we

received 4 billion rupees (US$100 million) from the

Indian government. At the same time, we generated

2 billion rupees ($US50 million) through licensing

fees and royalties received for our technologies,

products and services. Five years ago, the Council’s

“self-generated” revenues were less than 1 million

rupees (US$250,00). The progress we have made in

our efforts to become self-sufficient has taken place

without compromising the quality of our science. In

fact, in many ways, our strategy has enhanced the

quality of our research. I like what Louis Pasteur

used to say: “There is no basic science. There is only

science and its application.” That is the spirit we

hope to maintain through CSIR’s national laboratory

system. I am firmly convinced that such a spirit

largely determines which nations succeed and which

don’t in today’s global society. The value of the

strategy, moreover, extends far beyond science into

the core values of a society by encouraging people to

believe that anything is possible and no challenge is

beyond a solution. India has often been described as

a rich country where poor people live. I hope in the

years ahead, the work of the CSIR and its affiliated

laboratories can help transform India into a rich

country where rich people live—people rich in spir-

it, intellect and material well-being. ■

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TWAS Fellow (1988) Mohammad

Ahmad Hamdan has been named

Jordan’s Minister of Higher

Education. Hamdan received his

undergraduate degree from Cairo

University in Egypt and his doctor-

ate in statistical mathematics from

Sydney University in Australia. He

has taught mathematics and statis-

tics at universities in Egypt,

Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the

United States, and he has served as

dean of faculty, students and re-

search at the University of Jordan.

Before his most recent appoint-

ment, Hamdan had been president

of both Yarmouk and Hashemite

universities in Jordan. He previous-

ly served in the capacity of Minister

of Education and Higher Education

in 1989-1990. His research areas

include analysis of categorical data

and distribution theory.

TWAS Fellow (1991) Jacob Palis,

Professor and Director of the

Instituto de Matemática Pura e

Aplicada (IMPA) in Brazil, has

been elected president of the

International Mathematical Union

NEW MATH HEAD

HAMDAN NAMED MINISTER

(IMU). He was voted into office at

IMU’s 13th General Assembly,

which was held in conjunction

with the International Congress of

Mathematicians. The joint meet-

ings took place in August in

Berlin. Palis, who was born in

Uberaba, Brazil, received his un-

dergraduate degree from the

University of Rio de Janeiro and

his doctorate from the University

of California at Berkeley. He has

served as Vice President of the

International Council for Science

(ICSU) and is a member of the

Scientific Advisory Council of the

Abdus Salam International Centre

for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in

Trieste, Italy. He has been elected

to the Brazilian Academy of

Sciences, Latin American Academy

of Sciences and Indian Academy of

Sciences. Palis’s personal fields of

interest include dynamical systems

and differential equations. With

more than 60 member countries,

IMU is the largest mathematics as-

sociation in the world. It is respon-

sible for awarding the Fields Medal,

which is comparable to the Nobel

Prize in the field of mathematics.

The South African Mission to the

European Union recently concluded

an Agreement of Cooperation in

Science and Technology that af-

fords South Africa participation in

the European Union’s Framework

Programmes. The Mission has now

launched a monthly electronic

newsletter designed to keep South

Africa’s science and technology

community up-to-date on the op-

portunities for cooperation afford-

ed by the Agreement. For addition-

al information, please contact

COOPERATIVE MISSION

Daan du Toit, Editor, SA-EU S&T,

South African Mission to the

European Union, Rue de la Loi 26

bte 14-15, 1040 Brussels, Belgium,

samissie@innet.be.

TWAS Fellow (1984) Alberto P.

Calderón died on 16 April 1998 at

the age of 77. Born and raised in

Argentina, Calderón received his

undergraduate degree from the

University of Buenos Aires and his

doctorate from the University of

Chicago in the United States, where

he taught for more than 25 years.

He was a member of the American

Academy of Arts and Sciences,

National Academy of Sciences

(USA), Royal Academy of Sciences

(Spain), Latin American Academy of

Sciences and Academy of Sciences

and Institut de France. Calderón re-

ceived international recognition for

his pioneering work in partial dif-

ferential equations and Fourier

analysis. His collaborative research

with Antonio Zygmund at the

University of Chicago revolution-

ized the theory of singular inte-

grals. Their findings are now known

as the Calderón-Zygmund theory.

ALBERTO CALDERÓN DIES

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Die

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Jian SONG, former head of China’s

State Council and State Science

and Technology Commission (SSTC)

{recently reorganized into the

Ministry of Science and

Technology}, has been elected

Vice Chairperson of the Chinese

People’s Political Consultative

Conference (CPPCC), the nation’s

highest political body. In that ca-

pacity, Song will continue to focus

on national and international is-

sues related to science and tech-

nology. In addition, he will exam-

ine cross-cutting issues in educa-

tion, population, resource manage-

ment and environmental protec-

tion. The new Minister of Science

and Technology is ZHU Lilan, for-

mer executive chair of SSTC.

Throughout its existence, the com-

mission worked closely with the

Third World Network of Scientific

Organizations (TWNSO). Officials at

the newly created Ministry of

Science and Technology expect

their ties with TWNSO to remain

strong in the future.

Etim Moses Essien (TWAS Fellow,

1994) has been awarded the 1997

Nigerian National Order of Merit.

The government grants this award

to individuals whose research has

ESSIEN AWARDED

JIAN SONG ELECTED

made lasting contributions to na-

tional and international develop-

ment. Essien, who is a medical

doctor, was educated at University

College Ibadan in Nigeria and the

University of London at St.

Thompson Hospital in the United

Kingdom. He is currently a profes-

sor of haematology at the

University of Ibadan in Lagos,

Nigeria. Essien, who has taught in

England, Canada and the United

States, is a member of the Nigerian

Academy of Science, African

Academy of Science and American

Association for the Advancement

of Science. He has served as vice-

president of the International

Society for Haematology and on

several panels and committees for

the World Health Organization

(WHO). In addition to his work on

haematology, Essien has conduct-

ed research on malaria and iron de-

ficiency anaemia. In 1993, he re-

ceived a TWAS Award in Basic

Medical Science.

Marcos Moshinsky (TWAS Fellow,

1985), emeritus researcher and

professor at the Universidad

Nacional Autónoma de México’s

Instituto de Física, has been

awarded the UNESCO Science Prize

MOSHINSKY HONOURED

for his contributions to theoretical

physics, particularly in the fields of

mathematical and elementary par-

ticle physics. The semi-annual

award, which includes a US$15,000

cash prize, is granted to individu-

als who make significant contribu-

tions to basic science. Moshinsky,

a native of Kiev, Ukraine, was edu-

cated at the Universidad Nacional

Autónoma de Mexico and Princeton

University. He is a member of the

Academia de la Investigacion

Científica in Mexico, Academia

Brasileira de Ciências in Brazil, the

European Academy of Arts,

Sciences and Letters, the Pontifical

Academy of Sciences, the Latin

America Academy of Sciences and

the American Academy of Arts and

Sciences in the United States.

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W H A T ’ S T W A S ?

THE THIRD WORLD ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (TWAS) WAS FOUNDED IN 1983 BY

A GROUP OF EMINENT SCIENTISTS FROM THE SOUTH UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF

THE LATE NOBEL LAUREATE ABDUS SALAM OF PAKISTAN. LAUNCHED OFFICIAL-

LY IN TRIESTE, ITALY, IN 1985 BY THE FORMER SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE

UNITED NATIONS, TWAS WAS GRANTED OFFICIAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL STATUS

BY THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL THE SAME YEAR.

At present, TWAS has 479 members from 75 countries, 62 of which are devel-

oping countries. A Council of 12 members plus the president is responsible for

supervising all Academy affairs. It is assisted in the administration and coordi-

nation of programmes by a small secretariat of 9 persons, headed by the

Executive Director. The secretariat is located on the premises of the Abdus

Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, which

is administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orga-

nization (UNESCO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). UNESCO

is also responsible for the administration of TWAS funds and staff. A major por-

tion of TWAS funding is provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy.

The main objectives of TWAS are to:

• Recognize, support and promote excellence in scientific research in the South.

• Provide promising scientists in the South with research facilities necessary for

the advancement of their work.

• Facilitate contacts between individual scientists and institutions in the South.

• Encourage South-North cooperation between individuals and centres of schol-

arship.

TWAS was instrumental in the establishment in 1988 of the Third World Network

of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO), a non-governmental alliance of 151 scien-

tific organizations from Third World countries, whose goal is to assist in build-

ing political and scientific leadership for science-based economic development

in the South and to promote sustainable development through broad-based

partnerships in science and technology.

TWAS also played a key role in the establishment of the Third World Organiza-

tion for Women in Science (TWOWS), which was officially launched in Cairo in

1993. TWOWS has a membership of nearly 1800 women scientists from 82 Third

World countries. Its main objectives are to promote the research efforts and

training opportunities of women scientists in the Third World and to strength-

en their role in the decision-making and development processes. The secretari-

at of TWOWS is currently hosted and assisted by TWAS.

TWAS offers scientists in the Third World

a variety of grants and fellowships. To find out

more about these opportunities, check out

the TWAS web-pages! Our main page is at:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas

Want to spend some time at a research

institution in another developing country?

Investigate the South-South Fellowships:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/SS-

fellowships_form.html

Need funding for your research project?

Take a look at the TWAS Research Grants:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/RG_form.html

TWNSO runs a similar scheme, for projects

carried out in collaboration with institutions

in other countries in the South:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/TWNSO_RG_form.

html

But that’s not all TWAS has to offer.

For instance, do you need a minor spare

part for some of your laboratory equipment,

no big deal, really, but you just can’t get it

anywhere locally? Well, TWAS can help:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/SP_form.html

Would you like to invite an eminent scholar

to your institution, but need funding for

his/her travel? Examine these pages, then:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/Lect_form.html

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/Prof.html

You’re organizing a scientific conference

and would like to involve young scientists

from the region? You may find what you

are looking for here:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/SM_form.html

You’re collaborating with a colleague in

another country and would pay a short visit

to his/her laboratory? The “Short-Term

Fellowships” may be the answer:

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/ST_Fellowship.

html

COLLABORATION

CONFERENCES

TRAVEL

EQUIPMENT

GRANTS

FELLOWSHIPS

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